The general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions has been "effective" in lowering down the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the National Capital Region (NCR)-plus areas, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
“Sa tingin po namin talagang naging epektibo because nakita ho natin talaga iyong patuloy na pagbaba ng kaso dito po sa NCR Plus bubble. Nakita ho natin na talagang iyong peak natin from March and April, talagang patuloy pong bumababa ang mga kaso (We think it was really effective because we really saw the continuous drop in cases here in the NCR-plus bubble. From our peak from March and April, the cases really kept going down),” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire during a public press briefing on Saturday, June 12.
Metro Manila and its surrounding provinces such as Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal were placed under GCQ with restrictions since May 15.
“Ngayon po sa ating NCR, ang atin pong average daily recorded cases ay isanlibo na lang po compared noong tumataas ang mga kaso na apat hanggang limanlibo per day tayo. Nakita rin ho natin na na-decongest natin ang mga ospital (Currently in NCR, our average daily recorded cases is only 1,000 compared to when the number of cases surged---when we were 4,000 to 5,000 cases per day. We also saw that we were able to decongest the hospitals),” said Vergeire.
The Health official said that their focus right now is in Visayas and Mindanao which are both experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases.
“Nakakakita po tayo nang pagtaas ng mga kaso, nakakakita ho tayo ng mga pagkapuno ng ating mga ospital. So iyan po iyong ating binibigyang-tugon ngayon para po ma-manage po natin at patuloy ring bumaba ang mga kaso dito sa ibang lugar (We are seeing an increase in cases, we are seeing overcrowding in our hospitals. So that's what we're responding now in order to manage and eventually bring down the number of cases in these areas),” she said.
Meanwhile, the NCR might be nearing the safe zone soon if the number of COVID-19 cases continues to decline, said Vergeire. However, she said that they are still cautious since the number of cases in Visayas and Mindanao are increasing.
“If the other regions are having this kind of increase in the number of cases, we have to treat this matter with caution kasi very fragile ang sitwasyon natin at maaring bumalik tayo uli sa dati kung hindi po tayo lahat mag-iingat (If the other regions are having this kind of increase in the number of cases, we have to treat this matter with caution because our situation is very fragile and we can go back to our previous state if we are not all careful),” she said.
Asked if the NCR-plus bubble will be deescalated to normal GCQ, Vergeire said that this is still being studied by the Interagency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
“Hindi lang natin tinitingnan ang NCR, tinitingnan din natin ang mga karatig pook. Katulad ng sabi ko kanina, bagama’t tayo ay malapit nang mapunta sa safe zone, hindi pa rin tayo ligtas dahil ang ating mga karatig na mga lugar ay nagtataasan ang kaso (We are not only looking at NCR, we are also looking at the neighboring areas. As I’ve said before, although we might soon be in the safe zone, we are still not safe because our neighboring areas are having an increase in cases),” she said.